Al Gore, Corporate Greenwasher?

Submitted by John Stauber on

Is Al Gore aiding and abetting the world's largest greenwashers? The New York Times reports that "The brightest lights in the advertising business are gathering in Cannes, France, this week for an annual celebration. ... Mr. Gore is being accorded rock star status at the festival. ... The embrace of Mr. Gore shows how 'green' advertising has galvanized the marketing community. 'The consumer sentiment out there is just palpable,' said Hamish McLennan, chief executive of Young & Rubicam, the advertising agency that arranged Mr. Gore's visit to Cannes and helped him to develop the Save Our Selves (SOS) campaign for environmental awareness. ... Not long ago, it seemed, only oil companies touted their environmental credentials via big-budget advertising campaigns. But now green advertising is everywhere. ... The idea that consumers can continue to consume, making tiny changes in their behavior, is attractive to marketers, too. Not only can they keep promoting consumption, they can turn greenness into a selling point."

Main Source: 
New York Times, June 18, 2007
Topics: 
Advertising
Cause-Related Marketing
Climate Change
Environment
Public Relations

Comments

raincrowd replied on

i support big budget in green advertising. the bigger, the better. i support it because i think we're not out of the woods yet. ZERO POLLUTION is the name of the game.

Josh821 replied on

So if a company touts that they're environmentally friendly that's considered greenwashing? Some companies really ARE healthy for the environment. And changing a bunch of little habits ARE generally all the average person can do. This is like saying if you buy a hybrid car, use only CFLs, change your faucet heads, and set your thermostat a little higher in the summer and a little lower in the winter you're simply not doing enough to help slow down global warming. That's crazy and it's even crazier to say that the companies marketing those products are greenwashing us and and simply trying to make a profit off of a new marketing spin.

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Pani113 replied on

I tend to somewhat agree with you. If we had a population with the backbone it took to make the necessary sacrifices, we could save the planet. However, for the most part, we have a population of effete ninnies who care more about American Idol than the survival of democracy. They probably can't be deconsumerized until complete chaos occurs. So, in the meantime, I guess those little changes are better than nothing at all.

And I wish people would leave Al Gore alone. I think the man has acted with complete class! The election was stolen right from under his nose and the American people just let it happen. Then they elected the rat again!!! Yet he still cares enough to try and save the planet even if his methods aren't perfect and maybe his own carbon footprints aren't as ethereal as Christ himself. Al Gore doesn't need to fight against global warming. He has plenty of $ and can make it plenty of other ways. He won't be around for the worst of it, and he has enough dough to buffer his descendants somewhat. If I were him, I would be very very bitter and say the h*ll with it all. His motives are NOT selfish. Lay off the man!!!!!!!!

"Weight obsession is a social disease. If we cared more about CO2 than BMI there MIGHT still be time."